


Reality Warper

by valtyr



Category: Young Avengers
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-23
Updated: 2011-04-23
Packaged: 2017-10-18 13:43:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/189471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/valtyr/pseuds/valtyr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For Avengers Kink, prompt: "Billy/Teddy - anything Billy wants enough, he gets, whether he means to or not"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reality Warper

_"The Scarlet Witch was right. I did have powers. But the first time I used them, I lost control. I almost killed somebody."_

Billy lied to Jessica Jones. Not a big lie, not really. Kesler was the first time he tried to hurt someone with his powers.

And maybe he hadn't lost control, really.

Because what he _really_ wanted was for Kesler to feel the same sick terror Billy felt. And he did; every day afterwards, he saw it in Kesler's eyes.

So two lies. Small ones. And they might as well be the truth now, because they're in the papers and on the television and they're even on his Wikipedia page. Only Billy knows different, and even he's starting to forget. Reality is easy enough to change, if you know how.

And Billy knows how.

 

The first time he used his powers was less than an hour after the Scarlet Witch pressed a kiss to his brow. He tramped round and round the high wall of the Mansion, trying to be inspired, to be brave, to be a hero, kicking the autumn leaves up in clouds of red and amber.

He passed the other two kids twice, sitting where he'd sat recently. On the third pass, he shot them a curious glance, and the dark haired one glared at him. Billy recognised him, vaguely, from basketball games.

"Get lost, homo," he snapped, and Billy's feet sped before he'd even had a chance to think _stand your ground_. He was outnumbered, and they were big guys - if there'd been just one of them -

He still wouldn't have done anything. Billy dropped his chin to his chest and pushed on, trying to recapture the little spark of hope he'd felt when the Scarlet Witch had smiled at him.

On his next loop, he almost broke away before he got back to the gates; the thought of them sitting there, watching him pass, maybe speaking, perhaps getting up to - his knees were watery, but he plowed on. Surely he could at least walk past them.

Only one of them was left, the blond one, elbows on his knees, staring into space. He looked round as Billy approached, eyes unfriendly.

"The fuck are you doing back again?" he said. "Fuck off, you little fag."

It was terror that stopped Billy in his tracks; he watched the blond eyebrows drawing together, and thought how unfair it was that people like this had friends, and Billy not one. _I just want someone to like me he thought_ , a sudden sharp claw of loneliness. _Just one._

The boy looked away, and sighed.

"Never mind," he said. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

Billy stared at him, and he shot a glance back. Then he smiled, awkwardly, a little quirk of his mouth that made him suddenly attractive.

"I really am sorry," he repeated, and Billy very much wanted it to be true.

 

Teddy was... well, he wasn't nice. Or kind. Or particularly bright. But he liked Billy, and that would do. They'd meet some evenings, when Teddy wasn't busy with Greg, and Billy would listen to him ramble, and wish that he was nicer.

Or smarter.

Or funnier.

But maybe Billy judged him too harshly those first days, because after a while, maybe a month, he couldn't imagine how he'd thought Teddy was dumb and mean. He was shy, Billy decided, and Greg was a bad influence. With Billy, the real Teddy was getting a chance to come out, and he was just the kind of friend Billy had alway dreamed of having.

After six weeks, Billy realised he was in love with Teddy, and Teddy liked girls.

That sent him back out into the wintry streets, to his seat outside the Avengers Mansion. Where he'd met Teddy. Maybe he hoped the Scarlet Witch would come back and fix things.

He felt hollow; he'd just wanted a friend, and now...

Maybe a friend was enough?

 _No_ , the little voice inside him whispered, _you deserve to be loved._

And he wanted it, he wanted it so very badly.

"Billy?" He looked up to see Teddy, as if Billy's thought had summoned him, and his heart lurched. "Is everything okay?"

"It's fine." Billy smiled stiffly, but Teddy's expression of concern didn't waver. "What are you doing here?"

"I come here, sometimes, when I need to think." Teddy sat down beside him. "I... needed to think tonight, I guess."

"You want me to leave?" Billy shifted, and Teddy put his hand on Billy's wrist. He was wearing sheepskin mittens, big puffy things.

"No, I - maybe you can - Billy, did you ever... think you..." he bit his lip. "I've been thinking..."

He stopped, and Billy held his breath. New York seemed preternaturally silent, the slight November fog muffling the noise and lights until the world seemed to be just them, alone in the mists. Teddy slid his hand over Billy's until they were palm to palm.

"I don't think I'm the person I thought I was," Teddy said distinctly, and looked at Billy. Billy folded his hand around the squishy mitten, and Teddy smiled, clear and untroubled.

They sat for another hour, Billy's cheek resting against Teddy's shoulder; he thought maybe it was the happiest he'd ever been.

 

Billy's parents welcomed Teddy with open arms, of course. Any friend of Billy's would have been welcomed; a smart, funny charming kid like Teddy was a cause for celebration.

The important thing was, Billy could lock his bedroom door and have time alone with Teddy.

Teddy was shy, just like Billy had thought; he blushed and looked slightly panicked when Billy touched him. He said _no_ and _wait_ again and again during their hesitant groping, and Billy thought he'd die of wanting.

"Yes," Teddy mumbled finally, when Billy's head was spinning with lust and frustration. "Yes, Billy, please, I love you, anything you want -"

Teddy was never shy again after the first time; it was always perfect.

 

After the Kesler incident finally happened - two months after he first met Teddy - he ran to the Avengers Mansion, desperate for help, and found nothing.

 _I need the Scarlet Witch_ he thought, and the air seemed to quiver around him, as if it might tear apart to reveal her, and that thought only redoubled his panic. _No, I need Teddy. I need Teddy..._

Sure enough, Teddy was in the Mansion, crouched over a picture of Captain Marvel. Billy couldn't, quite, remember how he'd gotten in. Or how Teddy had gotten in.

He stared around at the wreckage, burnt timbers and crumbling brick, the carpeting torn up, the furniture smashed. Silence pressed down on them, ringing in Billy's ears, and he had to swallow before he could manage to speak.

"How could the Avengers quit?" he said. Teddy didn't look up. "I need - " He stopped, and the silence piled on again until he wanted to collapse to the floor under its weight.

What could have torn the Avengers apart? Earth's mightiest heroes?

"It's not right," he said slowly, the words hard to push out into the muffling air. "The world needs Avengers." There had to be Avengers. _Billy_ needed the Avengers.

 _There have to be Avengers._

Teddy lifted his head, and looked towards the door.

"Iron Man?" he said, and the gleaming armoured figure shook its head.

"Iron Lad, actually." It took a few cautious steps towards them, metal boots loud on the bare wood, and suddenly the weight lifted from Billy's heart and he could breathe again.

It was going to be all right.

 

So it all worked out, really. Billy and Teddy were meant to be together.

And Teddy was exactly what Billy had always wanted.

That was what everyone remembered, so that was how it went.


End file.
